U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan while providing security for Special Operations unit By Dan Lamothe

Army Spec. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, was killed in Afghanistan by gunfire April 30, U.S. military officials said. (U.S. Army)

A U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan was hit by gunfire in a district east of Kabul while providing security for a U.S. Special Operations unit, U.S. military officials said.

Army Spec. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, was an airborne-qualified infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and was killed in Kapisa province’s Tagab district, the Pentagon announced. He had been in Afghanistan since September on his first deployment from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Martin O’Donnell, said Wednesday that Conde was carrying out an operation alongside Afghan forces against Taliban officials. Conde joined the Army in 2015 in Loveland, Colo., and was assigned to Army units in Alaska after going through basic training. His death marked the second U.S. combat death in Afghanistan this year.